Calcata, Italy: Where Newcomers Gave an Old Town a Second Life

Calcata, a medieval hill town north of Rome, was rescued by the artists and bohemians who began moving there in the 1960s.Credit
Chris Warde-Jones for The New York Times

WHETHER you arrive in Calcata by car or by one of the buses from Rome, it is impossible to remain unfazed when the village first comes into sight. Perched high atop a cake-shaped stump of tan volcanic rock — studded with a diminutive chess-piece castle and fringed by a dense forest — the fortified village plays on the travelers’ collective myth of the quintessential Italian hill town.

But navigate the S-shaped passageway to the marble bench-lined piazza in the middle of this bewitching village, about 30 miles north of Rome, and something might seem amiss. Maybe it’s the fresco of Jimi Hendrix painted on the wall of an 18th-century building. Or the ponytailed locals, some of whom might be milling about in Indian-style saris. Or the absurd number of art galleries tucked away in the tangle of cobblestone alleyways. Whatever it is, it doesn’t take long to figure out that Calcata is not your everyday Italian hill town.

This may be the grooviest village in Italy, home to a wacky community of about 100 artists, bohemians, aging hippies and New Age types. Its offbeat roots began in the 1930s, when the government condemned the medieval village for fear that the craggy cliffs it sits on were crumbling. Calcata’s inhabitants relocated a half mile up the road to a newly built town, Calcata Nuova, and except for a clutch of feral cats and a few holdouts, the old hilltop village lay deserted, awaiting a government wrecking crew.

Then, in the late ’60s and early ’70s, artists and bohemians began gravitating to the village, drawn by its rugged beauty and a mythical energy that some say emanates from Calcata’s 150-foot-high volcanic stump. (The Faliscans, a pre-Roman people, used the mountain as a sacred ritual site, and some transplants say they can still feel the spiritual force.)

The new artsy inhabitants squatted in the abandoned stone houses before buying them (the original owners were happy to sell). They patched up potholes in the cobblestone alleys and transformed many of the caves under the village into subterranean homes. They opened art galleries, restaurants and cafes. And, finally, they successfully lobbied to have Calcata’s death sentence rescinded, convincing the government that the earlier assessment was wrong.

“We saved Calcata by moving here,” said Athon Veggi, an artist and Egyptologist who moved to the village in the 1970s and now lives in two adjacent caves: one for her art work, the other she shares with a dozen crows. “People like myself came here because it’s a powerful place and because we’re free to do what we want.”

In truth, Calcata has had its share of the bizarre long before the bohemians arrived. Shortly after the Sack of Rome in 1527, when the city was plundered by the armies of Emperor Charles V, a German soldier showed up in Calcata carrying a souvenir he had stolen during the raid: the supposed foreskin of Jesus. The soldier was captured, and the Holy Foreskin was confiscated, permanently placing Calcata on the weird relics map.

The Holy Foreskin, however, mysteriously disappeared in 1983 (locals swear the Vatican took it). Since then, pilgrims have been replaced by gallery-hopping day-trippers, who come to gawk instead at Calcata’s medieval architecture and the paese di fricchettoni, or village of freaks.

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Credit
The New York Times

“That almost all the inhabitants are from somewhere else — either in Italy or other parts of the world — makes Calcata unique,” said Pancho Garrison, a former choreographer from Texas who runs Grotta dei Germogli, a nouvelle Italian restaurant in a mosaic-lined cave (Rupe San Giovanni; 39-761-588-003; www.grottadeigermogli.org). “But what really inspires me is that everyone you encounter here has a creative bent.”

Take, for example, Marijcke van der Maden, a Dutch puppet-maker, who came here in the early ’80s and now organizes jam sessions with local musicians, classical music concerts, lectures and exhibitions in the Granarone (Via di Porta Segreta, 8; 39-0761-587-855; www.ilgranarone.com ), a spacious hall with an earthy cafe that serves as the village’s de facto visitors’ center. Or the painter Giancarlo Croce, who runs a subterranean gallery, Studio d’Arte Porta Segreta (Via Porta Segreta, 15; 39-761-587-563), that carries the works of the local sculptor Costantino Morosin, who is known throughout Italy for his sculptures made of a volcanic rock, tufo, including the three Etruscan-style thrones that grace Calcata’s square. Or the flamboyant Gianni Macchia, an actor from 1970s B-movies, who loves showing off his coffee house, Caffe Kafir (Via Garibaldi 12-14; 39-338-172-5339), and the mural-filled palace that houses it.

The artistic inspiration has spread outside the village. Just below Calcata, a sprawling patch of forest has been turned into a rambling art gallery, the Opera Bosco (Località Colle; 39-761-588-048; www.operabosco.com). A pleasant 20-minute walk from town, it has sculptures and art installations created from local materials like tufo, wooden branches and dirt.

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But not everyone is attracted to Calcata for its artistic vibe, spiritual energy or relics. The physical aesthetic of Calcata — one of the best preserved medieval hill towns in Italy, is reason enough to draw people like Prince Stefano Massimo, who hails from one of the oldest noble families in Europe (and whose family owned Calcata in the 19th century). He lives part-time in a mansion that sprawls along the southeastern half of the village, and is composed of five homes that were combined and refashioned by a local architect, Patrizia Crisanti.

“I try to come here as much as possible,” Mr. Massimo said. “Not for the energy that people speak about, or for the artists who are living here, but because where else could you find a place that looks this beautiful.”

Calcata is also charmingly backward. There are many places to get a tarot card reading or a box of incense, but to withdraw money from an A.T.M., mail a letter or other modern conveniences, you have to drive to Calcata Nuova or three miles to Faleria.

Still, for most Calcata residents, it’s a fair trade-off. “You could walk around here in your pajamas holding a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, and no one is going to judge you because you’re not tied to the proper Italian way of doing things,” said Mr. Garrison. “That says a lot about the place.”

Although the village is a popular day-trip destination, spending the night is the best way to get a real sense of Calcata. I Sensi della Terra (Via San Giovanni 1, 39-0761-587-733; www.isensidellaterra.it) rents rooms and apartments scattered throughout the village. The rooms start at 20 euros, $38, at $1.29 to the euro. And if the villagers are having one of their potluck pasta dinners on the square, they may invite you to join them. Just make sure you don’t have any plans in the morning.

For a place that isn’t stereotypically Italy, it can be pretty Italian after all.

VISITOR INFORMATION

Driving is the easiest way to get to Calcata. From Rome, it is a 30-mile trip on highway Cassia Bis (SS2); exit at Sette Vene and follow signs for Calcata. You can also reach Calcata by bus. Take one of the light-rail trains from the Ferrovia Nord station in Rome to the Saxa Rubra bus terminal (a 20-minute ride that costs 1 euro, or $1.29) and switch to a blue Cotral bus (www.cotralspa.it) that stops at Calcata. Buses leave almost every hour, and the ride takes about 45 minutes. Tickets are sold at the snack bar, Bar Saxa; a one-way ticket is 2 euros.

Correction: February 11, 2007

The Day Out column on Jan. 28 about Calcata, Italy, misstated the starting price in dollars for rooms offered there by I Sensi della Terra. Prices begin at 20 euros, which is about $26 at $1.29 to the Euro — not $38.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page TR12 of the New York edition with the headline: Where Newcomers Gave an Old Town A Second Life. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe